JOURNEYS DISPATCHES

Overview

This sample itinerary can be tailored to match a variety of budgets and interests by selecting the trip duration, departure date, accommodation style, and tours that fit your needs.

Explore the highlights of Northern France and take in some of the country's most celebrated sites and landscapes. In addition to experiencing French culture at its finest in Paris, Normandy, and Giverny, this grand tour also incorporates time to relax in coastal towns and tour the royal chateaux of the Loire Valley.

Highlights:

See the highlights of Paris including the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower

Experience the D-Day beaches in Normandy

Take a tour of Mont St. Michel in Brittany

Marvel at the grandeur of Château de Chenonceau in Loire Valley

To see itinerary, please click on an option below.

Sample Itinerary

Sample Itinerary

Day 1 — Depart the U.S. for Paris, France

Day 2 — Paris

Upon arrival at Charles De Gaulle Airport, a private driver greets you and takes you to your hotel located in Paris' Marais District. After checking in, meet your guide in the Place des Vosgesfor a walking tour of Le Marais. Explore this historic district filled with trendy boutiques and cobbled streets, perhaps stopping to taste some artisan chocolates or jams along the way.

Today your driver and guide pick you up at your hotel for a tour of Paris's Right Bank, which includes sites such as the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, and Montmartre. In the afternoon, enjoy a guided tour of the Opéra Garnier. Built in the 19th century, the building is a dominating structure often considered to represent France's empirical power, becoming doubly famous when it inspired the novel The Phantom of the Opera. From here, walk to the bustling covered passages which were built in the same period and designed to provide clean and sheltered shopping alleyways for Parisians. They are now home to authentic little cafes, restaurants, and boutiques selling vintage postcards, books, and antiques.

Your private guide meets you at your hotel for a tour of two world-renowned museums, the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay. Beginning with the Louvre, your guide helps you skip the line and navigate this palace-turned-extensive museum, ensuring you see the most heralded pieces including the Mona Lisa. After a brief lunch break, walk through the Tuileries Garden and make your way to the Musée D'Orsay on Paris's Left Bank. Once a major train station, this distinctive building features works by Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists such as Monet, Renoir, and Van Gogh.

Meet your private guide in the hotel lobby and, together, walk to the two islands that make up the heart of Paris, Île de la Cité and Île Saint-Louis. On Île de la Cité, you can discover the gothic masterpieces of Notre-Dame Cathedral and Saint Chappelle and learn about their histories and architectural details. Your guide then leads you to the quiet, residential Île Saint-Louis to admire views of the Seine and meander down the cafe- and boutique-lined streets. You have the afternoon free to explore more of Paris' distinctive districts. Perhaps visit the bouquinistes, traders of second-hand books, postcards, and prints who sell their wares from green metal boxes along the banks of the Seine.

This morning, you have an early start with your driver and guide to make your way outside Paris to the Château de Versailles, a royal palace built by the self-proclaimed "Sun King," Louis XIV. Learn about life at the French court and tour the vast gardens adorned with statues and water features. Afterward, return to Paris to meet your guide for an afternoon at Aligre Market, complete with wine and cheese tasting.

Depart from Paris early this morning and make your way to Normandy, enjoying three sites along the way. Your first stop: the house and gardens of Claude Monet in Giverny, where he painted some of his most eminent works including the series Water Lilies. Your next stop allows you to take in a viewing point over the town of Les Andelys from which you can see the medieval castle ruins of Château Gaillard, built by Richard the Lionheart. Your third stop takes you to the ruins of Benedictine Jumièges Abbey, with its imposing columns and lofty nave. Finally, arrive at your hotel in the seaside town of Honfleur.

Your driver picks you up in the hotel lobby for a day of tasting Normandy's signature dishes and drinks. Enjoy the rolling green countryside as you travel to the Domaine d'Apreval, an apple cider distillery that produces the apple brandy known as Calvados. Learn about the fermentation process and taste the different varieties during your guided tour. After your tasting, a picnic lunch is provided as you relax in the shade of the apple trees. Following lunch, your driver brings you to the Domaine Saint-Hippolyte, a medieval estate that houses a cheese production facility and dozens of spotted Norman cows. Tour the property to learn about its history and the stages of cheese production, followed by a sampling.

This morning, check out of your hotel and meet your driver-guide for a full day tour of the D-Day landing beaches. Starting with Omaha Beach, you can learn more about the role the Allied forces played in the liberation of Normandy before visiting the graves of the fallen at Normandy American Cemetery. Complete your experience at the American landing location of Utah Beach. Your driver then drops you off in nearby Bayeux where you check into your hotel for the night.

Check out of your hotel and meet your driver-guide for your journey from Normandy to Brittany. Stop en route at Mont St. Michel, a medieval abbey and community built on an island just off the coast. Your guide leads you up to the topmost point, away from the crowds, so you can look out over the bay. Climb up to the abbey itself to learn about its history and the monks who still live there. After your tour, travel to a nearby seaside town to taste fresh oysters and enjoy lunch before continuing to your hotel in the fortified walled city of Saint-Malo.

Check out of your hotel and, with your private driver, make your way down to the Loire Valley, stopping at two historically significant sites along the way. You first visit is to the medieval town of Angers to see the slate-covered chateau that houses the extraordinary Apocalypse Tapestry. In the afternoon, you set off to Fontevraud Abbey which houses the remains of the Plantagenet family, including Richard the Lionheart. Your driver then brings you to your accommodation in the town of Amboise on the banks of the Loire River.

Today, explore your new surroundings during your private guided walking tour of Amboise. Your guide meets you at your hotel and escorts you to the Château d'Amboise. Here you can learn about the numerous French monarchs who occupied this castle over the centuries, notably François I who encouraged Leonardo Da Vinci to move to Amboise. You then visit Clos Lucé where Da Vinci spent the last three years of his life, taking the time to explore his numerous inventions which are reproduced in the chateau's gardens. To end the day, visit the Caves Duhard for some wine tasting.

This morning, you're met by your driver-guide to see the highlights of the Loire Valley. Stop first of all at the most alluring chateau in the valley, Chenonceau, with its signature arches and covered bridge that crosses the Cher River. Continue to Château de Cheverny, a private residence boasting antiques that have been passed down from generation to generation. End your tour at the largest chateau in the valley, Chambord, which features a one-of-a-kind double spiral staircase inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci.